Square One: Scrapbooking with Squares

I designed this layout to accomplish a tall order: make something worthy to document my first ever Cal football game while working with lackluster photos. I’ve grown a lot with my designs since then but I still love this layout.

Why Use Squares in a Layout?

1. Show Lots of Pictures. Incorporating a lot of pictures into a layout with squares is an awesome way to include your favorites without it being overwhelming. Using squares makes each piece seem like it fits and contributes to the design.

2. Dress Up Lackluster Photos. Look more closely at my football page. The pictures aren’t great. I hadn’t taken pictures of sporting events before and the team didn’t win that many games. I ended up with not-stellar pictures, but the squares layout masks it.

3. Mix Keepsakes and Photos Cohesively. In the football layout, I included the ticket to my first game and it blends with the rest of the page. On my Yosemite layout, I cut bits of the park map into squares. For my Last First Day of School layout, almost all the squares are old handouts and exams.

Tips on Using Squares

All Squares. My Yosemite layout is all squares of the same size. I printed certain pictures that take up multiple squares and then cut them into pieces.

Squares and Rectangles. My football page here is a grid of squares, but some of the pieces are rectangles that take up the space of two squares. If you use this method, make sure to factor in the size of the gutter when you are cutting the rectangle.

Put Keepsakes Inside a Square or Cut Squares out of Keepsakes. I love both of these methods. On the football page, my ticket fits right inside a rectangle. On my Yosemite page, I cut squares out of the park map.

Aren’t Sure What Size Squares Will Fit? I never know what size square is going to work exactly right. I experiment by cutting squares out of old cardstock and see what size works. I save the test squares for the next time.

I love using squares. I end up cutting most of my photos into 3×3 or 4×4 squares for my layouts. I am about to just create a template and get photos printed in this size. I realize I can order prints in this size but it would still be cheaper to just create a template for the size, print in 4×6, and then trim off the extra.